While many were speculating upon the possibility of Amit Shah being handed the Finance Ministry, Narendra Modi once again goggle-eyed the political pundits by giving charge of the Home Ministry to Shah. For those who know Amit Shah’s style of functioning and his contribution in fighting terror in Gujarat, this move comes as no surprise. Ever since the fresh Modi government has taken charge, there is only one ministry in the spotlight. Back-to-back meetings with various intelligence agencies such as the RAW, IB and also with NSA Ajit Doval make it very clear that Kashmir is the top priority of the new Home Minister. Amit Shah also had a closed-door meeting with J&K Governor, Satyapal Malik.
Within days of taking charge, Amit Shah has hit the ground running. What is noteworthy, however, is the fact that all developments taking place at MHA pertain to Jammu & Kashmir. The very first step taken by Amit Shah as Home Minister was to get a hit list prepared of active terrorists operating in the valley. This MHA list comprises of the top ten terrorists involved in secessionist activities and taking up arms against the state. Hizbul Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo alias Mohammed Bin Qasim tops the list. Lashkar-e-Taiba district commander Wasim Ahmed alias Osama’s name also features in the list. It is safe to assume that given this list, the MHA and security agencies have their targets set and that the top guns are now about to be hunted down.
Following this, two significant developments took place yesterday. NIA was granted a 10-day custody of three major secessionists. A Delhi court on Tuesday granted permission to formally arrest separatist leaders Asiya Andrabi, Masarat Alam and Shabir Shah in connection with a terror funding case involving Lashkar-e-Taiba co-founder Hafiz Saeed. Shabir Shah was already in custody at Tihar for a decade-old money laundering case involving terror financing. NIA has stated that Shabir Shah received 10 lakh rupees from hawala operator Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watal. Meanwhile, infamous Asiya Andrabi received a portion of the said money too. She also faces charges of waging a war against the Indian state and for delivering hate speeches in the valley. This grant of custody assumes significance as the MHA is taking proactive steps to resuscitate peace in the valley.
The most significant development, however, was the news that MHA was keenly deliberating on the possibility of delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources indicate that ‘files are already moving in North Block for the same’. This move could have implications so large, that we may witness a Hindu, even a Kashmiri Pandit becoming the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. It is for this very reason that the news of delimitation has rung alarm bells among the regional parties like the PDP and NC. Delimitation at this juncture could fundamentally alter the construct and composition of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Currently, the seat distribution is quite haphazard; Kashmir sends maximum MLAs to the Assembly, even though the area of Kashmir is the smallest when compared to Ladakh and Jammu regions. As such, Kashmiri MLAs hold the other two regions by the collar and laws are made only for the welfare of a certain section of the people.
Another section of thought is that the Kashmir Valley claims that it has no Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes while Gujjars, Bakerwals, Gaddis and Sippis were given Scheduled Tribe status in 1991 and form 11 percent of the population but have no political reservation. This leaves these communities without a voice in the affairs of the state. Same is the case with the Dogras of Jammu. Even though the Constitution provides for delimitation to be carried out every ten years, in 2002, Farooq Abdullah froze the possibility of delimitation till 2026, for reasons best known to him.
Kashmir has suffered at the hands of such dynasties for long, and this move goes on to prove how Farooq Abdullah, in order to maintain his grip on the Assembly, completely arrested the possibility of restructuring of the Vidhan Sabha. If this recent proposal were to fructify, there is no doubt that Kashmir no longer will be a dominant factor and that the Jammu and Ladakh region combined could have more than 50% of the Assembly seats under their command. It is for this very reason there would be an immense possibility of a Hindu becoming the Chief Minister.
In hindsight, one can say that the BJP-PDP alliance in the previous Modi tenure largely affected the prospects of the Central leadership from taking radical steps to ensure a peaceful Kashmir as soon as possible. It is believed that Amit Shah has instructed all intelligence and security agencies to not budge from their zero-tolerance policy towards terror. He has also reportedly told them not to pay heed to any criticism while doing so. Now that there is no unholy alliance in place, and that PM Modi has won a thunderous mandate, there is no stopping the BJP from pursuing it’s Kashmir policy with greater vigor. Amit Shah will not stop before delivering peace to the Kashmir valley, this can be said without a doubt.